Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Dec.15AP

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he and Russian President Vladimir Putin spent much of their three-hour talks Thursday discussing a longstanding territorial dispute and a peace treaty between the two countries.

The meeting came after Putin – who has a reputation for tardiness when meeting with world leaders – kept Abe waiting for three hours due to a “departure delay,” according to the Japan Times.

“We had in-depth discussions on a peace treaty,” Abe told reporters after the talks at a hot spring resort in western Japan, which will continue in Tokyo on Friday.

He said the two leaders also discussed possible joint economic projects on the four disputed islands held by Russia since the closing days of World War II.

Abe did not say if there was any progress on the territorial issue. Disagreements over the four southern Kuril islands, which Japan calls the Northern Territories, have kept the two countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their World War II hostilities.